Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas Sells 1,854 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas trimmed its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 69,309 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,854 shares during the period. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas’ holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,796,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 34.6% during the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 276,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,157,000 after acquiring an additional 71,026 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 19.3% during the 4th quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 27,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 4,395 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 52.5% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 11,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $469,000 after acquiring an additional 3,925 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 22.2% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 220,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,895,000 after buying an additional 40,075 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Management Corp VA increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 82.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital Management Corp VA now owns 249,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,046,000 after buying an additional 112,229 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MO shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 14th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO remained flat at $42.87 during midday trading on Wednesday. The stock had a trading volume of 3,174,272 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,833,423. The firm has a market cap of $73.63 billion, a PE ratio of 9.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.65. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.44. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.06 and a 52 week high of $48.04.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 244.55% and a net margin of 33.21%. The firm had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.14%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 85.78%.

Altria Group declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Company Profile

Altria Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells smokeable and oral tobacco products in the United States. The company offers cigarettes primarily under the Marlboro brand; large cigars and pipe tobacco under the Black & Mild brand; moist smokeless tobacco and snus products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, and Husky brands; oral nicotine pouches under the on! brand; and e-vapor products under the NJOY ACE brand.